


The Stuff of Legends

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-05
Updated: 2007-09-05
Packaged: 2019-05-21 07:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14910609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Five conversations that took place in the universe where Dick Grayson was adopted by Clark and Lex.





	The Stuff of Legends

One of the unfortunate facts of the life, or at least the part of life that oversaw the relationship between Clark and Lex, was that any time Lex Luthor wanted to take his lover out and show him a good time, something would interfere to make that impossible. In the early days of their relationship, those "somethings" had been Lana Lang, Meteor Freaks, Lex's paranoia, Jonathan Kent's disgust for all things Luthor, or that pesky thing called high school. In the middle days of their relationship, it had been Oliver Queen, Zoners, the onset of additional superheroes vying for Clark's time, and the pesky thing called college.

Really, after having weathered so many bothersome challenges already, Lex should have been quite prepared for the challenges that came with being Superman's lover. _Should_ have, perhaps, but that did not do a whole lot of good in soothing the irritation that came with having his plans placed on a back burner for some foolish nutjob with attention issues.

If Superman had to deal with Brainiac one more time, Lex wasn't sure it wouldn't drive _him_ to villainy.

Still, there was hardly a way to say that to those pouty lips of his farmboy as Clark hovered outside the window of their home. "I understand, Clark."

"I'm sorry." And really, it would be easier to stay angry at Clark if Lex's partner didn't wear his guilt and anxiety on his sleeve.

"What kind of a citizen would I be if I kept the country's hero occupied while Brainac tried his incompetent best to destroy it?" Lex demanded, accepting Clark's kiss of apology. "Go forth and save New York, farm boy. Metropolis and I will be waiting when you get back."

"Go to the circus, anyway, Lex. Have a good time."

"Yes," Lex promised the retreating back of his lover. "And I'll be sure to bring you back plenty of tooth-decaying cotton candy for your invulnerable teeth."

Lex had every intention of keeping his promise. But, just as fate had intervened eighteen years earlier in the form of a meteor shower that had changed the path of his life forever, so too did it change Lex's plans that night, this time in the form of his father's science experiment gone wrong.

By the time Clark finished his dealings with Brainiac and showed up to take care of Bizzarro, there was no cotton candy at the circus left to take home. There was, however, a heartbroken twelve-year-old boy who knelt over both his parents' dead bodies.

It was either the bad influence of Clark's altruism rubbing off on him, or the putrid smell of his mother's perfume lingering in his memories, but in either case, Lex did not return home empty handed.

****

"You need to stop feeling guilty." Lex swirled his brandy as he observed Clark in the warm glow of the Mansion's living room fireplace, letting the clink of his ice against the glass comfort him as it always had.

Clark looked up from his laptop and frowned. "I'm not -"

"We haven't lied to each other in a long time, Clark. Don't start old habits back up again."

Clark shut the laptop and sighed, leaning back against the back of the sofa. "It's my fault, Lex. _My_ clone killed his parents. _My_ superspeed wasn't fast enough to save his circus."

"Not even Superman can be every where at once," Lex answered with a frown.

"Try telling that to Dick," Clark answered irritably. "He cries himself to sleep every night, Lex. And that's _my_ fault. What am I supposed to do, shrug and not let it bother me?"

"Of course not. But all your moping and spoiling of the boy is going to do -"

" _I'm_ spoiling him? So says the man who has taken him toy shopping every day since you brought him home?"

"We mere mortals have to have something to do while the gods are out defending us," Lex answered smoothly. "And quit changing the subject."

Clark propped his head on his elbow, and Lex had a sudden, irrational hatred of the newsboy shirts Clark had taken to wearing. There were days that he missed the flannel so badly he could taste the straw of their barn on his lips. "I'm not trying to change the subject."

"Yes, you were. And anyway, all you're teaching the boy by sitting around and moping all the time is that it's alright to allow your problems to consume you." Lex sighed. "Even Lionel knew better than to teach _that_ lesson, Clark."

"I wasn't trying to ..." Clark trailed off and bit his lip, and Lex sighed again as he reached forward and removed those ridiculous glasses.

"I know you weren't. But has it occurred to you that the boy might heal a lot easier than if he saw you moving on as well?"

"I guess it might."

Lex swallowed the rest of his brandy and noted that the day had come in which he was the sanest person in his family. Somewhere, his mother had to be having a laugh over that.

****

With his lover in one hand and his newly adopted son in the other, Clark flew through the clouds, looping when Dick requested, and keeping the loops fairly tame out of consideration for Lex.

"Wow!" There was no trace of the sobs that made up Dick's lullabies as the excited child looked down at the city below. "You really _are_ Superman!"

"At some point," Lex commented, "We are going to be offended that you didn't believe us."

"Aw, Lex, I didn't mean it like that."

"Don't worry, Dick. By the time we land, Lex will be so grateful that the flight is over, he will have forgotten ever being offended."

"Don't you like to fly, Lex?" Dick's voice was completely disbelieving, as though he could imagine no such human being not loving flight in the manner that he did.

"It is not among my favorite things, no," Lex commented dryly.

"I _love_ it," Dick shared, as though it wasn't completely obvious. "And wow! That's the Daily Planet! Look how small it is from here!"

Clark smiled at Dick's enthusiasm, pleased to see his adoptive son finally find some happiness.

****

"No," Clark said, in his best Superman voice. The one that left no room for argument, no chance for discussion even among his most stalwart and stubborn enemies.

Naturally, it didn't work against Lex. "You're being unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable? You're the one who wants me to sanction teaching a child how to fight."

Clark watched as Lex rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Both of them were trying to keep their voices down to prevent Dick from overhearing. But the frustration that came from holding it in only agitated them both further. "I'm hardly asking you to throw Dick in front of Brainiac, Clark."

"There's no reason we can't protect - "

"Like we protected his parents? Or his circus?"

"I can't believe you would throw that up to me."

"Clark. I love you. The world loves you. You do the best you can. But you can't be everywhere at once. And our son is a target - not just because of you, but because he's my son, too. He _wants_ to learn how to defend himself, and whether you like it or not, he's going to join the fight some day."

"He doesn't have to. He can be normal."

"No, Clark. Our Dick is too special to ever be normal. And he doesn't _want_ to be normal. He _isn't_ you."

Clark thought of all that being "special" had taken away from him, and wanted nothing more than to shield Dick from that kind of fate. Yet, Dick wasn't upstairs pouting in his room because he was upset at being "special." He was upstairs, hating Clark for trying to force him to be normal.

It was only for that reason that Clark relented. Conditionally. "He doesn't pull an Ollie or a Dinah until he's eighteen," Clark said firmly.

"I agree," Lex said, amicably enough now that he'd gotten his way. "It will take that long for him to learn all he needs to."

"And it won't interfere with his schooling," Clark added.

"Oh, no. Schooling is very important. Speaking of, that's something else I wanted to discuss with you."

Clark groaned and wished the brandy in Lex's hand had any effect on him whatsoever.

****

"I've never been to a towny school before." Dick squirmed in the seat of the limo, seated between Clark and Lex.

Clark frowned. "Dick, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. You can always - "

"Come home and be antisocial." Lex sighed. "Funny, I thought we all agreed this would be best."

"Every story you've ever told me about this place makes me uneasy, Lex," Clark argued. "If Dick doesn't want to - "

"I do," Dick said softly, interrupting Clark as he tugged his back pack onto his shoulders.

Lex shot Clark a triumphant look. "Don't worry, Dick. I'm sure there will be no Oliver Queen to harass you. And if there is, you let us know and we'll have him taken care of."

"You have the watch I gave you?" Clark asked, ignoring the slight to his JLA companion just as he ignored Ollie's comments about Lex at the Tower.

"Yep!" Dick grinned as Lex opened the door of the car, and grabbed Clark's hand. "I always wanted to go to school with other kids, Clark. It'll be fun."

"I hope so," Clark said with a smile and a hug.

"You'll come and get me this weekend, right? So we can start the ... um, other lessons, right?"

"Yes, Dick," Lex answered as they exited the limo together, and Clark loved the man a little more than he already did when he bent down and took Dick's other hand in his.

They were halfway across the green when they ran into the very last person any of them had expected to see, holding the hand of a red-haired child that didn't look much older than Dick.

"Clark! Lex!" Ollie called, tugging the child over to where they stood. Dick smiled warmly at the other boy, and the other boy hesitantly returned it. Both boys dropped the hands of their guardians immediately when their eyes met.

Interesting reaction, Clark noted.

"Oliver." Lex's eyes narrowed. "Didn't expect to see you here. Certainly not with a child. One of your infamous dalliances finally catch up with you?"

"This must be Roy," Clark interrupted, trying to keep the peace. "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Harper."

"Really? I haven't," Lex said pointedly with a look that said there was going to be a discussion later.

"Roy's my ward," Oliver said proudly, ruffling the child's hair, completely oblivious to the embarrassed way that Roy pulled away and rolled his eyes at Dick.

"I see. They let anyone be responsible for a child these days, then," Lex commented icily, and though Clark knew it was his imagination, his head hurt. Invulnerability or no.

Ollie glanced from Dick to Lex. "Looks like."

Several unnecessary comments later, Clark and Lex dropped Dick off at his homeroom. As Clark walked Lex back to the limo, his superhearing heard Dick tell Roy that no, the seat next to him wasn't taken, and sure it would be okay if he sat there.

Clark had difficulty containing his smile as he listened to Lex rant beside him.

"A Queen! All over again. If that Harper brat tries any of Oliver's tricks - "

"Lex," Clark interrupted, lying a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Not everyone repeats their father's mistakes."

"You fight dirty, Kent."

"Only when I have to, Luthor. As for me, I'm glad Dick has made a new friend so fast."

"Jumping the gun a bit, aren't you Clark? They've only just met. What kind of a 'friendship' could they possibly have built already?"

"The kind that is the 'stuff of legends,'" Clark replied.

Or, he supposed, as Lex took his hand, the kind that lasts a lifetime.


End file.
